Foldable ironing board assembly



Aug 213 195l J. E. LOAR ET AL4 2,565,436

FOLDABLE IRONING BOARD ASSEMBLY vFiled sept. 13, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet lIII MAJ*

RMA? C. oA/i JOHN aan INVENTORS Allg- 21, 1951 J. E. LoAR ET AL2,565,436

FOLDABL IRONING BOARD ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 13, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Aug. 21, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFICE 2,565,436 FOLDABLE IRONINGBoARD ASSEMBLY John E. Loar and Erma C. Loar, Paducah, Ky. ApplicationSeptember 13, 1i948, SerialaNo. 48,513.6,

si claims. (o1. 38-114) This invention` relates. to an ironing board.and more particularly has referencetoI a. collapsible or folding typeironing board whereby.` theboard in its folded conditionforms a compact;unit for either storage or transportation purposes.,

We are cognizant of, the fact thatY foldable ironing boards; have been,provided, but: such boards. have not. been entirely Satisfactory.. Themajority of these constructions; even in the, collapsed state, have beenrelatively bulky, thereby making ease. of transportatiom as. welll asstorage during non-use, a serious, problem.v Moreover, the means by;which. the. ironing surface has; been maintained above the base when;the board; is in use. and by which, the ironing. surface is. moved intoclose proximity to.Y the. base for storage, has been comparativelycomplex. in structural detail. This, of` course,- materially increasesthe oost of manufacture.. thus making widespread use of. the boardprohibitive.. and. inaddition raises the problem of maintenance costs.,due to the large number of parte which are. subject, to damage.. withthe attendant r 1.ob 1en1.sv oi replacement. or repair. t

An important object. of our invention is to provide a foldable. ironingboard,y wherein. the rironing surface is supported upon thev base` bymeans of a lazy tong assembly which is so constructed as to maintain theironingsurface rigidly sup,- noried bv the, base during. the ironingprocess and yet Will enable the. ironing surfacev to assume a closerelationship to. the base` when the board is 110i in use.. therebyproviding acompact unit capable of easv transportation or storage.

Another object of` the invention is, to provide an ironing board of thefoldablev type` which in its folded condition may be easily housedwithin a carrying case` for storage o r transportation purposes.

.Still another object of the present invention is to provide a foldableironing boa-rdy which; includes few essential parts,r4 which is capableof being readily and inexpensively manufactured and` which is positiveand efficient. in, operation.

To achieve these and other objects, the invention includes a base, ahinged ironing surface and a collapsible structure interconnecting, theironing surface and the base. The collapsible structure comprises a pairof spaced lazy tongs connected in parallel relationshipv to the ironingsurface and the base so that theY ironing surface may assume a positionspaced above and. rigidly supported with respect to the. base.- or aposition in close relationship tothe base when the board. is not beingused. The lazy tong assembly is so constructed and cooperates withcomplemental members Vof the ironing surface and' base as to preventjcollapsing. of the board durine ilse- With. the. aboveand other objectsin View, the invention consists in the, detalls of construction. and inVthe 'arrangement and, combination of partsto be hereinafter'more fullysetv forth and claimedi-.

In. describing 4our invention in detail', referencewil-l Abe had to. theaccompanying drawings, forming part of the application, wherein like charac-,ters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and inwhich:

K' Figure lV isa side. elevational View ofthe board inthe operative.position.

Figure 2 isI aview. taken along the line 2-2 of Figure. 1, looking., inthe direction of' the arrows.

Figure 3 is an end view looking toward the left of Figure l, the ironingsurface and base. being in section.l

Figure 4 is a side elevational View ofthe board showing the' partspreparatory to folding the board.

Figure 5 is an end view looking toward the Figure 6 is a sfideY viewshowing the board in the folded state.

Figure 7 is a, view in front elevation, partly broken, away, Showingthe, folded board' within a case; and

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the ironing board in the operativeposition, but being on a reduced scale.

InFigure l, We have shown a base lli, an ironing surface Il'. andacollapsible structure l2, connecting the base and` ironing surface. Thebase is preferably rectangular in outline and of such dimensions asteprovide a sturdy support- 'ihe surface II. is of the conventional designand. includes a front section IIA and a rear section IIB, securedalongtheir adjoining, ends by a hinge I3. The leaves of the hinge areconnected to the lower face of eachof the sections LLA and .'IIB, sothat'the section IIA may be moved downwardly about. the hinge, I3. andthence upwardly into; approximately parallel relation to the sectionujlewhen the boardE is folded. for

storage purposes, as will later be moreffully set forth. ItY can be seenfrom Figures l and. 8; that al support I4 entends transversely of thesection HA intermediate the. length. thereof and is secured to the lowerface of the section in any suitable manner. The inner vertical wall ofthe support is formed with a longitudinally extending hemisphericalrecess I for receiving a brace element carried by the structure I2 tomaintain the section l IA in horizontal alignment with the section IIBwhich structure will be hereinafter described.

The structure I2 comprises a parallel lazy tongs I3. Each pair of lazytongs includes crossed links I4 and I5 pivotally connected intermediatethe ends thereof, as shown at I6 and pivotally attached at the ends tothe crossed links of an adjacent pair, as indicated at I'I. Since thelazy tongs are in parallel relation, the pivots I6 and I1 are in thenature of rods which extend transversely of the board as shown inFigures 2 and 3.

The free end of the lowermost of each link I4 is hinged to the verticalwall of an L-shaped bracket, as at I9, which bracket is secured to theupper face of the base adjacent to the rear edge thereof, The free endof the uppermost link I5 of each pair of lazytongs is pivoted to aU-shaped bracket 2E), supported by the lower face of the section IIB bymeans of a pin 2I extending through aligned openingsr in each link I5and each bracket 2U, and it can be seen that the brackets I8 and 20 arein vertical alignment. The free end of each uppermost link supports arod 22 which is adapted to bear against the lower face of section IIBadjacent to hinge I3 when the structure I2 is in its extended position.As best shown in Figures 1 and 4, the free end of each of the lowermostlinks I5 also support a cross rod 23 which is adapted to set in alongitudinal recess 24 formed in the inner wall of a pair of spaced`support 25 attached to the base IIJ along and parallel to the frontedge of the base.

Each lazy tong I3 supports a link 26 which is pivoted at its inner endon the pivot I1 at the outer extremity of the link I4 immediately belowthe uppermost link I4. The free end of each of the links 26 areconnected by a cross piece 21 and the cross piece 21 is adapted to bereceived by the recess I5 of the support to maintain the section IIA inalignment with section IIB when the board is being used.

Assuming the board is in its collapsed state, as in Figure 6, when it isdesired to use the board, the section I IB is moved upwardly, therebymoving the lazy tong sets to their extended position. The lowermost linkI5 is then removed until the rod 23 engages the recess 24 in the support25 and the links I4 and I5 will be kept in the extended position. Thesection IIA is then moved upwardly about the hinge I3 until it is inhorizontal alignment with the section IIB and by locating the crosspiece 21 in the recess I5, it can be seen that the sections IIA and IIBwill be maintained in the desired relationship.

An ironing board pad and cover (not shown) may then be disposed on theironing surface, and the board is now ready for use.

To fold the board, the links 2B are moved out of engagement with therecess I5 and the section IIA moved about the hinge I3 until, it assumesa substantially parallel position relative to the section IIB. The links26 are then moved rearwardly about the pivot I1 into a nested positionwith respect to the uppermost link I5 and to assure a snug t, each link26 is cut away, as at 29 to receive the pivot member I6. The rod 23 iswithdrawn from the recess 24 for enabling the lazy tong sets to fold,and the board may now be collapsed to the position shown in Figures 5and 6.

When the board is in the folded position, it may be disposed in lowerhalf 30 of a carrying case 3I, having a hinged cover or lid 32. Ifdesired, the cover may carry a pocket 33 for a pressing cloth, a bracket34 for holding a folding iron 35 and an electric extension cord 35. Anysuitable latching means 31 may be employed to lock the carrying case.

It will be readily appreciated from the foregoing that we have provideda collapsible ironing board which in its folded state forms a verycompact unit and which in the extended condition afords a sturdyassembly and there is little danger of the board collapsing during theironing process. The board may be set up for use or folded for storageor transportation in a minimum of time and by virtue of the simplestructural details may be easily operated by inexperienced persons.

We claim:

1. A foldable ironing board comprising a base, spaced lazy tongspivotally connected at their inner lower ends to the base, an ironingsurface, a pivotal connection between the ironing surface and the innerupper ends of the lazy tongs, complemental means carried by the base andthe outer lower ends of the lazy tongs to maintain the lazy tongs in theextended position when it is desired to use the ironing board, and abracing member pivotally attached to the lazy tongs intermediate theouter upper and lower ends thereof adapted to engage the ironing surfaceto stabilize the surface when said lazy tongs are in the extendedposition.

2. A foldable ironing board comprising a base, a pair of spaced lazytongs pivotally attached at their inner lower ends to the base, anironing surface having two hingedly connected sections, a pivotalattachment between one of said sections and the inner upper ends of thelazy tongs, complemental means carried by the outer lower ends of thelazy tongs and the base to maintain the lazy tongs in the extendedposition, and additional complemental means supported by said lazy tongsintermediate the upper and lower outer ends thereof and the other ofsaid ironing sections to maintain said latter section in alignment withthe first named section when the lazy tongs are in the extendedposition.

3. A foldable ironing board as claimed in claim 2 wherein a bracingmember is pivotally attached to the lazy tongs intermediate the upperand lower outer ends thereof and adapted to engage the other of saidsections to maintain said section in alignment with the rst namedsection when the lazy tongs are in the extended position.

4. A foldable ironing board comprising a base, a pair of spaced parallellazy tongs pivotally connected at the inner lower ends thereof to thebase, a pair of ironing surfaces, a hinge connection between saidsurfaces whereby one of the surfaces may have downward pivotal movementrelative to the other surface, a pivotal connection between the fixedsurface and the upper inner ends of said lazy tongs, complemental meanscarried by the lower outer ends of the lazy tongs and the base formaintaining the lazy tongs in the extended position, and additionalcomplemental means supported by the lazy tongs intermediate the upperand lower outer ends thereof and the movable surface to maintain saidsurface in alignment with the fixed surface when the lazy tongs are inthe extended position.

assunse 5. A foldable ironing board as claimed in claim 4 wherein abracing member is pivotally attached to said lazy tongs intermediate theupper and lower outer ends thereof and adapted to engage the movablesurface to maintain said surface in alignment with the xed surface whenthe lazy tongs are in the extended position.

6. A foldable ironing board comprising a base, a pair of lazy tongspivotally attached at their lower inner ends to the base in parallelrelation, a stop secured to the base, a rod carried by the lower outerends of the lazy tongs adapted to engage the stop to maintain the lazytongs in the extended position, an ironing surface pivotally attached tothe upper inner ends of the lazy tongs. a complemental ironing surfacehingedly attached to the rst named surface for pivotal movementdownwardly with respect thereto, a stop carried by the complementalsurface, and a bracing JOHN E. LOAR. ERMA C. LOAR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 667,266 Upp Feb. 5, 1901 755,103Boyd Mar. 22, 1904 1,437,064 Lundeen Nov. 28, 1922

